Bully King - J.A. Huss Page 0,6

good half a mile away. Then he looks back at me. “Cooper, if you’re this pissed off because your father is going out of his way to make you move back in the family mansion, then—”

“You don’t understand—”

“Shut up.” He pauses so his sharp words can sink in. “Just go home. Your personal things are already there. This is just… stuff. And it’s going into storage. I’m sure you’ll be back at the end of the summer.” But then he stops and shrugs. “Or not. I don’t really give a shit if you’re coming or going. But you need to get the hell out of my face or you will be spending the day in lockup.”

My own words to Cadee Hunter thrown back at me. And it feels like karma. I run my fingers through my hair and turn away. “Fuck this shit.”

I’m just about back to the central gardens when I spy Ax coming towards me. His mouth is moving long before I can hear his words. So when he’s finally in earshot, I get the middle of his monologue—

“… and you know the worst part? He took my fucking bank account! My bank account. With my name on it! Filled with money I earned! He can’t do that, Cooper!”

Ax is tall, broad, and tatted up from shoulder to wrist with images of demons. Lots of fangs, and horns, and hooves on his arms. His head would normally be covered in light brown hair, but he started shaving it back in ninth grade and never really stopped. Right now, it’s about a quarter-inch long. If the sun hits his green eyes at just the right angle, they turn yellow. He looks… evil. But he’s one of my best friends and we’ve been in this shit together for so long now, there’s no way to back out now.

I sigh, feeling pretty defeated. “To be fair, Ax, it was drug money.”

“Not the fucking point!” He yells this. “And what the hell is going on here?”

I look over my shoulder at the movers. Then turn back to Ax. “Apparently the Judge signed an eviction notice for my father while we were sobering up.”

“What?” He grabs his head with both hands. “But—”

“Hey!”

We both turn to find Lars, the other leg of our tight trio, jogging across the gardens towards us. Lars just looks like a Lars. He’s tall, and lean, and well… just think Alexander Skarsgård. That about sums him up. “What the hell is happening? I just made bail and the Mayor called saying we were kicked out or something and—” He stops mid-sentence. Presumably because he’s spied the movers.

I press my fingertips to my forehead, then cover my eyes with my whole hand. My head is pounding so hard. “They really have kicked us out.”

“What’s that?”

I remove my hand from my eyes and find Lars pointing at the folder in my other hand. “This?” I sigh. “This is my new job packet.”

“What job?” Ax says. “We’re on a fucking plane in three hours to goddamned New Zealand. Please tell me that’s a job in New Zealand, Coop. Or I’m gonna lose it.”

“Yeah. We’re not going anywhere. It seems our fathers have managed to ground the plane.”

“No.” Ax grabs his head again. “No. No. No. I’m not staying here.”

“We’re supposed to move home.”

“No.” Ax is turning in circles now. “No fucking way. I’m not going home. I don’t care anymore. I’m so done with this place.”

Lars puts a hand on his shoulder. “You can crash at my house.”

“You’re going home?” Ax is stunned. He looks at me. “You’re going home too?”

“What choice do we have? They took everything from us, Ax. We have to run the Fang and Feather rush to get our shit back. The Chairman wants me to choose the next crop of initiates.”

Lars bellows a laugh. “Oh, that’s funny.” He points at me. “That’s actually funny!”

“It’s not a joke. And you two are stuck with me. Guilty by association, I guess.”

“Cooper!” Ax puts a hand on my shoulder. “No. You need to go back and talk to him. Apologize.”

“For what? That girl was begging me last night. I wasn’t gonna tell her no. Fuck that, I’m not apologizing.”

“You have to.” Ax is pleading. “I’m not going home.”

“You can stay with me, dude,” Lars says. “It’s cool. The Mayor won’t mind. Hell, sometimes I think he likes you better than me.”

That’s probably truer than Lars would like to admit, but it’s not something we talk about.

“Cooper,” Ax says. “Dude. I